


Way Back Into Love

by BunnyBean



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Comedy, Complete, F/M, Happy Ending, Humor, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-09
Updated: 2012-10-09
Packaged: 2017-11-15 23:19:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyBean/pseuds/BunnyBean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty two year old Ryuzaki Sakuno is frustrated with her life. She wishes she could go back in time when she was twelve and things were much less complicated. Little did she know that her wish would have such surprising outcomes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Wish for Something Old

**Author's Note:**

> This story is for fun and entertainment. I hope you get a kick out of reading it.
> 
> I don't use much Japanese in my fanfics, but there are a few things that just don't translate well, (including honorifics) so if you aren't familiar with them, here is the brief key:
> 
> Mada mada dane – this is Ryoma's catch phrase, though lots of other POT characters use it. The meaning is basically "not yet" "not good enough" or "you still have a ways to go." I think by those three phrases you can get the gist of the meaning of the idea behind the words.
> 
> Baka – idiot, dummy, et cetera.
> 
> Ano – a commonly used word whisper. The closest translation would be "um."
> 
> Mou - a word expressing frustration. Not in a minor cussing way like "damn" but more like saying "bother" or "sheesh."
> 
> Ochibi - Eiji's nickname for Ryoma. It translates with the connotation of "our baby" or "our little one." It's an affectionate nickname, not an insult.
> 
> Honorifics:
> 
> Honorifics are an important part of the Japanese language and are used to indicate relationship or status. When addressing someone in Japanese, and honorific usually takes the form of a suffix attached to one's name (example: "Echizen-san," would mean "Mr. Echizen"), or as a title at the end of one's name or in the place of the name itself (example: "Fuji-senpai," would mean "Upperclassman Fuji," or simply "Senpai!" meaning "Upperclassman!"). Honorifics can be expressions of respect or endearment. In an anime and/or manga they give insight into the nature of the relationship between characters.
> 
> -san: This is the most common honorific, and is equivalent to Mr., Miss, Ms., Mrs., etc. It is the all-purpose honorific that most will start out with when first meeting someone and until they feel comfortable using another term.
> 
> -kun: This suffix is used at the end of boys' names to express familiarity or endearment. It is also sometimes used by men among friends, or when addressing someone younger or of a lower station.
> 
> -chan: This is used to express endearment, mostly toward girls. It is also used for little boys, pets, and even among lovers. It gives a sense of childish cuteness.
> 
> Senpai: This title suggests that the addressee is one's senior in a group or organization. It is most often used in a school setting, where underclassmen refer to their upperclassmen as "senpai." It can also be used in the workplace, such as when a newer employee addresses and employee who has seniority in the company.
> 
> No honorific: The lack of honorific means that the speaker has permission to address the person in a very intimate way. Usually, only family, spouses, or very close friends have this kind of permission. Known as yobisute, it can be gratifying when someone who has earned the intimacy starts to call one by one's name without an honorific. But when that intimacy hasn't been earned, it can also be very insulting.
> 
> Thanks to Del Rey manga publications for the honorifics explanations. This is not exact word for word, but I used their translation as a starting point for my explanations. To learn more about other honorifics and how they are used, I would Google "Japanese honorifics."
> 
> Also to be noted in address is that generally speaking a family name or "last name" is used with a suffix before a person's given name, which would denote further familiarity. So by word there is more familiarity from say Ryuzaki-san to Sakuno-san.

**Way Back Into Love**

 

A Ryoma & Sakuno from The Prince of Tennis romance fanfic

By: Bunny

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

* * *

Chapter One – A Wish for Something Old

* * *

 

A twenty-two year old Ryuzaki Sakuno lay out on her queen size bed in her one-bedroom apartment contemplating the ceiling. It was a plain white ceiling with no interesting lamps or lighting or patterns to give it any form of character. When she had first moved into her apartment at eighteen it had been a beautiful dusty pink, she had thought it complimented her feminine room perfectly. It had made her inordinately happy to have a beautiful yet grown-up (in her 18 year old eyes) room in an apartment that was all for herself. She had shown it off to all her friends, her girlfriends, her senpai, her family and everybody had agreed that it suited her well.

That is, everybody except for Echizen Ryoma. Ryoma had complained about being in a girly, frilly room all the time.

After about a year of Ryoma whining about the pink and the lace and the stuffed animals and all the other feminine things she held dear in her room, she had repainted the room and packaged up and/or given away the lace and the animals and all the other girly things.

Not that it made a difference to Ryoma when all was said and done. She sacrificed for him, and he never took note of it. No, he only ever complained about the things he didn't like and never bothered to express the things he did.

Sakuno had reasoned that after dating for three years officially and having the intention to date for four years before that, she needed to accept Ryoma as a permanent part of her life and make the necessary adjustments that came with living with a man. After all, it was only a matter of time before they would be getting married (she had been sure) and then she would need to either make over the whole apartment for him anyways, or put her apartment back on the market to move to his place.

Three years later, Sakuno was still unmarried and didn't even have the pink ceiling as consolation for her not-going-anywhere-soon relationship.

She didn't get it. It wasn't like Ryoma was commitment phobic. He didn't even look at other girls, and he'd had a relationship with her for the past ten years. He seemed to enjoy her company, well, that is when they weren't fighting about marriage these days. He paid more attention to her then anybody else in his life…that meant something, right? But despite trying every single tried and true tactic in the book of "how to snag a man" Ryuzaki Sakuno was still alone, single, and in a not-going-anywhere-she-wanted-it-to-go relationship with Echizen Ryoma.

Oh, she was happy to have him in her life. Make no mistake in that. She would be absolutely devastated if he were to suddenly disappear from her life, or take up with a new girl or anything of that sort. But that wasn't her problem. Her problem was that they weren't married yet and it was way overdue. Why the hold up? It was obvious they would always be together, why not cement that in marriage and cut their costs by living together?

But Ryoma didn't want any of it. He wanted her all right, but he didn't want the distraction or the responsibility of a family. Even if the family was just a wife, it was too much for him. He was still 99 tennis and 1 to the rest of his life and Sakuno was sick and tired of being treated like she wasn't important and didn't matter! She mattered, ALL RIGHT!

She heaved a heartbroken sigh and wistfully recalled the old days. The good old days when they were twelve and had just met. Back then, Ryoma was her hero and he could do no wrong in her eyes. He'd generally ignored her back then, but she hadn't cared. To simply be in his presence and  _try_  to get his attention was enough for her back then. She was especially shy back then anyways, so it worked for them.

"Life was so much easier at twelve," she whispered to the white ceiling. She rolled to her side and flipped the lamp on her nightstand off. Burrowing under the covers, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Her last thoughts being of a wish to be twelve and innocent again, to a time when there were no grown-up concerns, just Ryoma and tennis and trying desperately to get the attention of her prince.

* * *

 

Sakuno woke to the feeling of having a hand soothing her hair down her back. 'Whaaaa?' her half awake, half asleep mind had just barely registered that she wasn't alone in bed.

"Grandma?" she heard her half-awake voice murmur in confusion.

There was a husky, definitely _male_  chuckle above her and Sakuno's eyes flew open as she rolled onto her back in shock. Before she could identify the male intruder on her personal sanctuary – that is, her bedroom – she found herself being kissed. 'What? Who is kissing me?' her mind reeled in shock. Finding herself again, Sakuno pushed violently at the large form above her, trying desperately to disengage her lips from the strange man sticking his tongue in her mouth.

After a few seconds of struggle, the man seemed to get the hint and pulled back from her a bit, but before she had the chance to identify him he had stood up from the bed and walked to the doorway. "I guess you're still mad at me," she heard him comment.

"Still mad?" Sakuno echoed in confusion as she sat up, her eyes following the shadow making its way out of the room. Wait a minute, since when was her carpet cream colored? And since when was her door across from her bed like that? And since when did she have such a big bed? Scared, Sakuno jumped out of the bed only to be hit with another shock of her life. Since when was she so big? She scurried across the bed to the other side of the room where two large mirrors covered the sliding doors of what she could only imagine was a closest. She took a moment to examine herself in the mirror. She was still thin, but she was about a foot taller then last night before she went to bed, and what was this skimpy red practically see-through nightgown she was wearing? Sakuno lifted up a corner of the skirt in awe of it as she tried to figure out what she would be doing wearing such a thing. Before she could finish her examination, the strange man appeared in the doorway asking, "Are you going to stare at yourself in the mirror all day, Sakuno?"

Shocked by being in a foreign room with a bigger body, Sakuno didn't even have the capacity to consider her modesty as she turned her head to the man and blinked. He was tall and athletic with dark hair hanging over his cat-shaped hazel eyes and a knowing smirk on his face. He looked older, for sure, but there was no mistaking that face and that look. She dropped the corner of her skirt and questioned, "Ryoma-kun?"

_Ryoma-kun?_  Ryoma took a step back and furrowed his eyebrow in puzzlement. Why did she look so unsettled? "Are you okay?" he asked.

Sakuno slowly shook her head as large tears began to form in her big brown eyes. What in the world had happened to her?

* * *

 

End Chapter One

 


	2. Old Perspectives, New Perspectives

**Way Back Into Love**

A Ryoma & Sakuno from The Prince of Tennis romance fanfic

By: Bunny

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

* * *

Chapter Two – Old Perspectives, New Perspectives

* * *

 

Twenty-two year old Ryuzaki Sakuno however, had a much different morning than her younger counterpart. She had woken to the nostalgic sound of her old alarm that had serenaded her awake in her early teenage years. Thinking it was a pleasant dream, she had allowed herself to snuggle further into her warm twin-size bed and enjoy the music. After a few minutes of the music not ending, and her mind waking up further, Sakuno started to realize that something may, in fact, be amiss.

She sat up slowly and took in her old childhood bedroom at her Grandmother's house. She turned around and glanced out the window across the street to confirm she was where she thought she was. Then, just for good measure she put her smaller-than-it-should-be right hand on her smaller-than-it-should-be left forearm and gave it a good pinch!

"OWWW!" she heard her younger voice complain.

Oh boy. Either Sakuno had just had some kind of crazy long dream where she grew up or she'd had some kind of weird body-transfer time-traveling experience. She idly wondered what the percentage Inui-sempai would give her of this actually being the case as she went about her old routine of washing up, getting dressed and ready for school that she had done as a twelve year old each day.

It was a familiar and comforting experience and by the time Sakuno was walking on her way to school, she had the urge to skip with giddiness. Was she truly twelve years old again? It was almost too good to be true. The real question at hand though, was how did she end up in the past? She definitely remembered the last ten years, so she was pretty certain that wasn't just some crazy long dream. She just needed a test subject.

"Sakuno-chan! Good morning!" she heard her old school chum Tomoka call out to her cheerfully.

'Perfect,' Sakuno thought as she turned to her friend.

"Good morning, Tomo-chan!" she called back. Wow…it would take some getting used to her younger more high-pitched voice - that was for sure. And this tiny little body. She wasn't a big girl by any means as an adult, but she had been  _really small_  as a twelve year old.

And then just as she was figuring out how to use Tomoka as her test subject, Sakuno's day got even better.

"Ryoma-sama! Good morning!" Tomoka called out.

Sakuno turned away from Tomoka and looked towards the school gates. Her eyes met Ryoma's as he made his way onto the school property. Her heart stopped for a moment as she took in his twelve year old form and his characteristic smirk. A bit startled at being confronted with Ryoma at twelve again, she stopped walking abruptly. Could he possibly have been transported from the future too, or was this the real twelve year old Ryoma? She couldn't help but wonder as she unknowingly gave Ryoma a sexy, knowing grin.

Ryoma stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes met those of Ryuzaki Sakuno. What did THAT LOOK mean? He wasn't sure, but for some reason it made him scared and excited all at the same time. As his heartbeat raced he broke eye contact, and continued on his way.

Sakuno hummed to herself in curious contentment as Ryoma walked away and decided to test him out and see what he would do. She would know if it was her twenty-two year old Ryoma, or the Ryoma she had known as a young lady in no time.

As his day wore on, Ryoma found himself getting irritated. He couldn't get the image of Sakuno's sensual smile out of his mind. What was with that girl today? Honestly. What was she up to? It wasn't like her at all, looking at him like that - like she knew some deep dark secret of his. By the time afternoon tennis practice came, he had managed to work himself into a fit. To make matters even worse, Sakuno wasn't there to watch their practice. Where did she go? She never missed a practice unless she was sick. Her absence increased his ire ten-fold. Next time he saw that girl, she was going to get it!

* * *

 

Twenty-two year old Ryoma flailed as twelve year old Sakuno in twenty-two year old Sakuno's body threw herself at his chest.

"Ryoma-kun!" she wailed.

Worried, and baffled at her odd behavior, Ryoma put his arms around Sakuno's smaller body and gently led her back to her bed. Sitting down on the edge of it, he watched as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes and sniffled for a few minutes.

"Sakuno," he finally began when she had quieted. "What is this really about?"

"Ryoma-kun," Sakuno began, only to be cut off.

"Will you stop calling me that, like we're still twelve or something?" Ryoma butted in.

Startled brown eyes looked up at Ryoma's irritated look,  _weren't they twelve_? "What do you mean?"

Ryoma stood up and towering over Sakuno gave her a long, hard glare. "Listen, I know you're upset with me about this whole marriage thing, but you don't need to take things this far to prove your point. Kicking me out last night was enough. I get it."

Sakuno gave Ryoma a puzzled look and tried to process what he was talking about. Marriage? Upset? Kicked out? Prove her  _point_? What in the world was Ryoma-kun talking about?  _She_  was just trying to figure out how she got here and what he was doing there, and why they had suddenly got so old.

Gathering her thoughts together, Sakuno finally spoke, "Ryoma-ku-" she stopped as he gave her another frustrated glare and corrected herself, "ano…Ryoma," she paused in disbelief as he gave her an approving look. What the hell? She tried her best not to focus on the weirdness that was Ryoma-kun insisting on the –kun being dropped while saying, "I'm sorry, there seems to be a misunderstanding. I don't expect you to m-m-marry me." Whew! She got it all out. This had to be the weirdest conversation she had ever had! Talking about marriage with an older version of Echizen Ryoma…what was next on her weird stuff that has happened to me today list?

"Then what was your whole lecture, kicking me out, nagging fit last night all about? Sakuno, I didn't even know you had it in you to act that way, I swear, you are driving me crazy! Can you just tell me what it is you want so we can be happy again?" Ryoma exploded as he began to pace back and forth in front of her.

Sakuno was even further confused by seeing Ryoma all worked up and emotional. This was too weird! She ignored his outburst and tried to stay focused on the issue at hand. Why did Ryoma-kun have to be the only person around? She wouldn't be this nervous with anybody else and she would be able to tell them the whole story! Ryoma-kun's presence alone made her nervous, but adding on to that his yelling and marriage talk was just fraying her already exhausted nerves. Mou! There was something seriously wrong with her! "W-well…I…you see, I think I need to go see a doctor," she confided.

Ryoma stopped pacing and gave Sakuno a startled look.

"Sakuno, you-you aren't pregnant are you?" Ryoma asked in a deadly quiet voice.

Sakuno's mind reeled. Pregnant! How the hell could THAT have happened? Oh nononononono, this conversation isn't going where she thinks it is. No way. She is absolutely not going to talk about  _sex_  with Ryoma-kun. Nonononononono….

"Sakuno!" Ryoma exclaimed as he resumed his seat next to her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "Sakuno – please, tell me – are you?"

Sakuno shook her head in confusion, "Ryoma-ku- Ryoma – I - that's not even possible, I – I – I've never - ano, where's my Grandma, or Tomo-chan? Please?"

Looking very put out, Ryoma stood back up and grabbed a cell phone off the nightstand closest to them. He punched a few buttons and handed the phone to Sakuno before sitting back down next to her and crossing his arms over his chest. He looked very unhappy. Sakuno normally would have worried further, but couldn't really focus on Ryoma's problems at the moment. He was getting way to personal, and this whole morning had been one weird thing after another already. She needed something a bit more familiar before  _she_  went crazy. Or maybe she already was?

"Hello?" Sakuno heard Tomoka's voice ask over the phone connection.

"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno exclaimed, relieved to hear the voice of her best friend.

"Sakuno-chan?" Tomoka questioned. "What's going on? Aren't you busy getting ready with Ryoma-sama?"

Sakuno gave Ryoma a nervous look and asked, "What do you mean, Tomo-chan?"

"Sakuno!!" Tomoka whined to her in obvious exasperation. "Don't tell me you forgot that today all the old tennis team are getting together?"

Sakuno processed this new information for a second and re-assessed her situation. Maybe she was going crazy. Or maybe she just woke up with some kind of weird amnesia or something. She was definitely older. So was Ryoma-kun. So was Tomo-chan. Something was going on with her and Ryoma-kun, but they were definitely fighting. The old team was getting together that day…but wait…just how old? Sakuno stood up and made her way out of the bedroom, away from Ryoma's prying ears and whispered over the phone, "Tomo-chan, please don't think I'm crazy, but can you tell me how old I am and why I would wake up to Ryoma-kun kissing me?"

"WHAT?" Tomoka yelled through the phone.

Nearly deaf from the shocking volume, Sakuno held the phone away from her ear as Tomoka continued yelling, "What do you mean how old are you and why is Ryoma-kun kissing you?" she heard blaring through the earpiece.

She nervously glanced towards the bedroom hoping Ryoma couldn't overhear Tomoka, only to come face to face with Ryoma. Oh no…he'd heard everything Tomoka just said. Ryoma took the phone out of Sakuno's hand while Tomoka was still yelling about Sakuno going crazy, and putting the phone mic up to his mouth said, "Tomoka-san, Sakuno will call you back." He disconnected the call and gave Sakuno another long, hard look.

"Sakuno, what's going on?" he asked yet again.

* * *

 

End Chapter Two


	3. Let's Play

**Way Back Into Love**

A Ryoma & Sakuno from The Prince of Tennis romance fanfic

By: Bunny

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

* * *

Chapter Three – Let's Play

* * *

 

Twenty-two year old Ryuzaki Sakuno was having a good day. She'd woken up once again to her old alarm clock, only this time she wasn't surprised. She'd got dressed and braided her hair into two long streams down her back and had practically  _skipped_  the whole way to school. Oh yes, life was grand at twelve and today she would find out if her Ryoma was with her or not. It was nice to be truly happy again. Happy without the cares of being an adult, happy to not have the pressure of knowing you had been dating the same man for six years technically and for ten years respectfully and that you still hadn't convinced him to make an honest woman out of you. Happy to be a kid again, with the cares of a kid, and oh, she was very excited. She was excited about playing with Ryoma.

She had purposefully missed the afternoon tennis practice yesterday afternoon. She knew that her Ryoma, that is, the twenty-two year old Ryoma would definitely notice her absence. He took their relationship very seriously for a guy that wouldn't marry her yet. If she ignored him, he would throw the biggest fit. Twelve year old Ryoma probably wouldn't care, if he even noticed.

As expected, it didn't take long for Ryoma to seek her out. As soon as lunch period had began he'd joined her up on the roof of the building and gave an irritated huff as he'd plopped down next to her on one of the benches up there. He was clearly irritated with her. That was a good sign since twelve year old Ryoma hadn't even given her the time of day. The time had come to truly test him out though.

"Hello, Ryoma," Sakuno said. Test one: drop the –kun that would have been used back then.

"Where were you yesterday?" he asked.

Test one: pass.

"I had something to do," Sakuno answered. Test two: pretend he has no claim on your whereabouts because there is no serious relationship.

Ryoma gave Sakuno a put-out glare.

Test two: pass.

"What were you doing that was so important?" He finally asked.

Sakuno gave a big sigh and rolled her eyes, pretending to be bored with the conversation. "Oh, nothing you need to worry about," she answered. Test three: provoke him.

Ryoma glared out at the horizon and then standing up said, "Get it out. I know you've got something you want to say to me."

Test three: pass.

It seemed like there was a very good possibility that this  _was_  her Ryoma after all. Sakuno couldn't decide if she was happy or disappointed, but she was pretty sure that the real twelve year old version of Ryoma wouldn't pay this much attention to her.

"No, not really," Sakuno said and gave Ryoma an intentionally knowing smile. Test four: let on that there might be a secret you share.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Ryoma exclaimed, pointing an accusing figure at Sakuno's face. "THAT LOOK! You gave it to me yesterday too. What's got into you?"

Test four: fail.

Sakuno frowned. Okay, maybe this wasn't  _her_  Ryoma after all. "Ryoma, why don't you have a seat? I made you lunch," Sakuno said. Test five: invite him to spend time with her.

Ryoma sat down and took the lunch box Sakuno was holding out to him and began to eat in silence.

Test five: pass.

Sakuno was puzzled. From her estimations, Ryoma wasn't acting like his twenty-two year old self, OR his twelve year old counterpart. She didn't get it. He was showing way to much interest in her for him to be twelve, though, in his defense she had been too shy the first go round to  _really_  test that theory. She did have the advantage here if he was twelve since she knew him rather intimately and twelve year old Ryoma barely knew her at all. In the same vein, he hadn't responded as she'd expected him to with her secret look.  _Her_  Ryoma definitely would have pounced on her at that point instead of accusing her of giving him weird looks.

Perhaps this called for a more direct approach? Maybe she would need to really provoke him in the unique way that she could, being his object of romantic affections his whole life.

Finishing her own lunch before Ryoma did, Sakuno stood and cleaned up her small lunch mess. Test six: pretend you aren't interested.

Sakuno turned to walk away only to find her wrist grasped by Ryoma. "Oi. Where do you think you're going?"

Test six: pass.

Hmmm…something more direct was definitely needed. This was getting her nowhere.

"I'm leaving," Sakuno answered.

"I thought we were having lunch together," Ryoma countered.

"As you can see, I've finished eating," Sakuno explained.

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma muttered as he let go of her wrist, making as if it was okay for her to leave, but still voicing that she wasn't supposed to.

Sakuno sat back down and decided the time had come to call him out.

"Ryoma, it's not like there is anything else to do up here," Sakuno began.

Ryoma gave her an unimpressed glance.

"That is…well, at least until about four years from now," Sakuno baited.

That got his attention. Ryoma put his lunch down next to him and gave her a searching look, his mouth half open in shock. He was starting to put things together, that was for sure. He had that look like he was thinking about saying something important. Sakuno reasoned that these were all good signs and decided to proceed.

"You take forever before you do anything, you know that? FOUR YEARS!" Sakuno emphasized her point. Knowing for a certainty that after their fight two nights ago, the four year reference wouldn't be lost on him – it had been four years since they had left high school and they were still unmarried and going nowhere in their relationship. Sakuno noted the irony that it had also taken him four years of liking her before he had finally kissed her too, but that was at least a thing of the past for her. Or rather, in her current state a thing of the future, but at least she was over it now and knew it was coming. Besides – starting a relationship is different than being in a committed one forever and not  _doing anything_  with it. She had every right to be upset with him.

Ryoma gave her a strange look that she wasn't able to read. "Oh? What happens in four years?"

Oh, now he was just messing with her. Fine, if Ryoma wanted to play like that, then she could too. Exasperated, Sakuno scooted closer to him and made quick work of the distance between their faces. Half an inch from contact she paused.

Ryoma froze.

"Let me jog your memory," Sakuno breathed out huskily as she tilted her head to the side and closed the remaining distance between their lips.

* * *

 

End Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT AN: Okay, so I'm getting a lot of "I'm confused but intrigued" reviews, so let me explain the basic premise:
> 
> Twenty-two year old Sakuno is now in twelve year old Sakuno's body AND twelve year old Sakuno is now in twenty-two year old Sakuno's body. They did a mind-swap basically, for lack of a better explanation, but neither of them is actually sure what's going on – though you as the reader SHOULD be sure of what's going on. I hope this clears up all the confusion.


	4. Ryoma Knows It All

**Way Back Into Love**

A Ryoma & Sakuno from The Prince of Tennis romance fanfic

By: Bunny

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

* * *

Chapter Four – Ryoma Knows It All

* * *

 

Twelve year old Ryuzaki Sakuno was having a bad day. She'd woken up in a strange bed, in a strange room, with a strange man kissing her only to discover she was also in a strange body. Sakuno had grown up overnight, and she couldn't remember anything in her life past being twelve. She was currently feeling very upset and vulnerable. Yes, very vulnerable. Of all the people to find herself with, why did it have to be the one person she had the hardest time being herself around? Ryoma-kun made her nervous. She really had to talk herself into just about anything with him, but she'd always made efforts to overcome her nerves around him. Perhaps she simply feared rejection, but that didn't seem to be her problem today. No,  _Ryoma_  was definitely insisting on being with her and while that would normally be viewed as a dream come true for her, today didn't count. Today she just wanted some explanations and she didn't want them from her crush turned into boyfriend/lover/whatever their relationship was, how did she end up old and like this again?

"Sakuno, you need to tell me what's going on," Ryoma reiterated.

Sakuno heaved a big sigh and steeled her nerves. Just tell him already! He already heard Tomoka screeching on the phone, so it's not like it will be anything new now anyways!

"I'm not sure how to tell you this…I…" Sakuno frowned. "I seem to have lost my memories. I don't know how I got here. I can't remember growing up at all. My last memory is getting ready for bed at Grandma's house…" Sakuno trailed off, unsure what else she should be telling him.

Ryoma sat on the edge of Sakuno's bed in her apartment and wondered desperately what had gone so wrong in his life the past 24 hours. Everything had seemed just fine. He'd been doing very well this year with his tournaments. He had a beautiful, loving girlfriend that had stuck with him since they were twelve. (Or rather since sixteen if you wanted to get  _technical_.) He had a great support system of friends and previous teammates that were always there to help him out. He was in the process of buying his first home (though that part was a secret) and he was thinking that his future would be bright indeed.

Then last night, Sakuno had been determined to be angry with him. It was seemingly out of nowhere. Sure, she had mentioned marriage before, and sure it had usually ended with Sakuno's obvious displeasure, but last night there was no discussion. It was just accusations and yelling and "get out of  _my_  apartment!" He had wisely retreated and figured it was possibly some sort of stress thing, or hormonal thing and that  _his Sakuno_  would be back to normal the next morning.

Boy was he wrong. She was even weirder today. No kissing this, Ryoma-kun that, I need a doctor this, I have no memories that. How was he supposed to take this? Was she really being serious with him or was she still freaking out about whatever set her off last night? They never had fights, never. Sakuno never yelled at him. Ryoma didn't even know she was capable of getting so angry. Well, it's not like Sakuno would actually ever really leave him anyways. No, she was definitely stuck with him no matter what. This he was sure of, right? Sakuno would always stay with him, wouldn't she? Well, honestly the way she was talking was setting off all kinds of alarms in his system that he didn't like. It was actually making him nervous. If she couldn't even remember being with him, then what would prevent her from really leaving him?

Proceed with caution. That was the conclusion of the matter indeed. Okay, he could do cautious.

"Sakuno, tell me what I can do to help. You may not remember, but I'm always here to support you," he said. He was so proud of himself. What girl could resist that? Sakuno would definitely tell him everything now and then he could fix all her problems and his life could get back to  _normal_.

Sakuno gave Ryoma a nervous glance. Who was this guy and what had happened to Ryoma? Oh well now then…it's not like she knew Ryoma all that well after all. She should just trust him, shouldn't she? He seemed to be the only one around, and Tomoka hadn't helped at all. Maybe he could at least set her straight on her age and what she was doing there…

"O-okay. Well let's see, how old am I exactly?" Sakuno asked.

Ryoma's self-assured smirk was back in full force. That's more like it. Talk to me Sakuno.

"We're twenty-two-" Ryoma began only to be cut off by Sakuno's shocked outcry.

"TWENTY-TWO!" Sakuno stood and walked back to the mirror to re-examine her body. She started with her face, yes, a bit older looking. Her hair – still long and in braids at least some things didn't change. She was probably close to a foot taller than she'd been last night, and woah…she glanced down at her chest again. When did those get so big? She covered them with her hands for a moment, trying to come to grips with her situation.

She turned back to look at Ryoma, who was now lounging back on her bed staring at the ceiling, looking tired and bored.

"So…" Sakuno began, but stopped herself because she was unsure how to proceed. What are you doing here? Why were you kissing me this morning? Do I have a job? Where is my Grandmother? What is Tomoka doing? How is the rest of the gang from Seigaku?

"What?" Ryoma asked.

"Well…" Sakuno paused again. Honestly, she just didn't know what to ask.

Ryoma sat back up and looked at her.

"You've been living in this apartment for four years, since you were eighteen. I usually sleep over when I'm in town, but sometimes you come over to my place. Coach Ryuzaki retired a couple of years ago and moved to a villa out in the country. She's really happy there. Tomoka-san got married two years ago to Horio after dating him for about six months. That's when you started getting upset with me all about getting married. Anything else you want to know about?" Ryoma asked.

Sakuno digested all the information while she tried to wrap her mind around Ryoma talking so much. She didn't think she'd ever heard him say so much unless it was about tennis, and even then it was usually mada mada dane this or mada mada dane that. She supposed though that in a ten-year sum up that he wasn't really talking all that much. Communicating with Ryoma was always 50 percent guess work, 40 percent body language, and 10 percent translating mada mada dane or un, umph, huff, sigh. She was starting to sound like Inui-senpai with all these percentages, and she wasn't being fair to Ryoma. For all she knew he was a regular chatterbox with his family. Well, she seriously doubted it, but she didn't  _really_  know. Maybe he talked to her a lot now since they were obviously in a serious romantic relationship. His run down on the past ten years of her life had definitely confirmed it for her. Her suspicions had already started with the kissing in the morning, the insistence on "Ryoma" instead of "Ryoma-kun" and the fact that he was _there_. What had really got her going though was when he'd been concerned about her being…well, being…ugh! She couldn't even think about that. If Ryoma and the older her were…well…if they were…she felt her face begin to flush and looked down at the floor her mind not being able to get past that one idea.

"I see," Sakuno finally said.

"You really don't remember any of that?" Ryoma asked.

Sakuno shook her head and bit her lip. "I'm sorry Ryoma-kun; I seem to have missed the last ten years of my life."

Ryoma got up from the bed and pulled Sakuno into a tentative hug. She allowed it, too overwhelmed to protest even if she'd wanted too, and honestly needing a bit of comforting as it was. It was...kind-of nice when Ryoma was like this.

"I...don't know how this happened to you if you're serious about this Sakuno, but I'm going to do my best to take care of you," Ryoma offered.

Sakuno gave a weak smile to the wall she was facing as she allowed herself to lay her head on Ryoma's big, strong chest. "Thank you. I do remember that you have always protected me, and I trust you," she said quietly.

Ryoma scoffed. "Heh. Well, at least you remember that much. I've always taken care of what's mine, and I might not have had it all figured out ten years ago Sakuno, but I know I've told you before that I already knew back then that you were the only one for me."

Sakuno let out a nervous, short giggle and said, "Ryoma-kun…"

* * *

 

End Chapter Four


	5. Sakuno is Crazy

**Way Back Into Love**

A Ryoma & Sakuno from The Prince of Tennis romance fanfic

By: Bunny

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

* * *

Chapter Five – Sakuno is Crazy

* * *

 

Ryuzaki was kissing him.

Wait a minute. Was this really happening?

Yes, Ryuzaki was definitely kissing him! Wow…wait…where was she going?

His eyes followed hers as she broke her lips away from his and backed away from him a bit, an obvious frown on her wet, pink lips.

Oh nononononono, can't have that.

"Maybe I was wrong after all," he heard her mumble under her breath to herself.

Oh nononononono. This definitely wouldn't do.

Before Sakuno had the chance to retreat further, Ryoma grabbed the back of her head and brought their lips back together. He startled her, but this time he was putting some effort into the activity.

Test seven: pass. Oh yes, definitely a pass. Excited, Sakuno pressed her smaller than she was used to body closer to smaller than she was used to Ryoma's body. She wrapped her hands around his waist and before she knew it, she was tugging his white uniform shirt out of his pants and smoothing her arms up his bare back.

Feeling hands on his bare back, a shocked Ryoma pulled away from Sakuno and gave her glazed over face a confused look. She wasn't wasting any time was she? Who would have known that sweet, innocent, little Ryuzaki had it in her? He was definitely being seduced…she was already taking his clothes off. Damn…

"Ryu- Sakuno…" Ryoma corrected himself. You didn't address a girl by her last name after kissing like that. He was trying to ask her just what exactly was happening here. Not that he terribly minded. No, the kissing was a nice turn of events, though definitely unexpected. As well as her weird looks and crazy four-year plan talk, but he wasn't one to complain about technicalities. If Ryuzaki wanted to get physical he was okay with that. Wasn't that why he'd chased her down after she gave him that sexy look? He'd wanted to see what that look meant, and wow, he wasn't disappointed. If it had been anybody else he would have avoided them like the plague, but with  _Sakuno_  he didn't know exactly why, but with  _her_  everything was different.

"Sakuno, what…" he began again, only to be interrupted by the school bell.

"Oh no!" Sakuno exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. "We're going to miss class if we don't go now, and then everybody will figure it out!"

"Who cares?" Ryoma heard himself say before he regained control of his mouth. Wow, this was going to be a problem if he started saying things like that out of nowhere every time Sakuno was around.

Sakuno stopped and gave Ryoma a stunned look. "Yes, right. Why would you care? You never really do, do you?" she accused.

"Are we really going to go back to that?" Ryoma asked.

"Back to what?" Sakuno asked.

"Back to _this_ , the kissing part was much better," he clarified.

"Ryoma," Sakuno chastised. "I don't know how this happened to us, but we can't go around  _changing up_  the timeline. There might be some weird after effects or something."

Ryoma gave Sakuno a look like she'd completely gone insane.

"What are you talking about changing timelines? Does this have to do with that four years stuff you were spouting about before you kissed me?" he asked.

Sakuno blinked at him in confusion. "You mean…you really don't know what I'm talking about?"

Ryoma gave Sakuno a shrug, but that was enough for her to figure it out. After all, she'd perfected the art of translating Ryoma language.

"Oh no. Nononononononononono," Sakuno moaned as she sank back onto the bench and covered her face with her hands. "This is bad. This is really, really bad."

Ryoma tried hard not to roll his eyes at Sakuno's behaviour. He didn't see what was so bad about all this. Girls. They were so weird sometimes. Sakuno was definitely the strangest one of them all. Which did of course, make her rather interesting, but she also made him confused and crazy half the time he was with her.

"What's the problem?" he finally asked. He was getting fed up with her moaning about time dilations, four years, and he was pretty sure he heard something about "baka Ryoma should have just married me," but he wisely chose not to comment on that one.

"Ryoma, bare with me for a moment here, how old are you?" Sakuno asked.

Not bothering to think about why she would be asking such an inane question, Ryoma simply supplied her with her answer, "Twelve."

Sakuno heaved a big sigh, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

Ryoma grunted. Sakuno knew  _very well_ that they were twelve. She was so weird!

"How shall I put this?" Sakuno began, "Well, Ryoma, I'm from the future."

Ryoma took a minute to give Sakuno a look before not being able to contain it any longer burst out in laughter. Of all the things she could have said…she came up with this?

Sakuno stood up, towering over his laughing form on the bench. "Mou! Ryoma! This isn't funny, I'm being serious here!" she huffed.

Ryoma kept laughing. Was she just making excuses now for jumping his bones like that? She is so cute! Well, his girlfriend might just be crazy after all, but at least she was entertaining.

"That's impossible," Ryoma said, trying to explain his stand on things.

"It's not!" Sakuno insisted. He wasn't taking her seriously! "I know everything that happens to us, just ask me!"

"Fine, fine, how old am I when I die?" Ryoma asked, humoring her.

Sakuno let out another frustrated huff. "Well, actually, I was twenty-two when I came back here, so I only know that much," she confessed.

"Okay, fine then, what am I doing at twenty-two?"

Sakuno crossed her arms and gave him a glare, "being a great big baka just like you are right now! You haven't changed one bit, that's what!"

Ryoma started laughing again, "That doesn't prove anything."

"Fine! Explain to me then why I have ten years of memories of growing up to being twenty-two years old!" Sakuno challenged. Stupid, arrogant, cocky, thinks he always knows everything about everything Ryoma.

"Sounds to me like you had some crazy dream," Ryoma offered. He stopped laughing and gave her a serious look.

"Ryoma, it wasn't just some dream, I mean it. Two nights ago, we had this big fight. Well, okay, so maybe I was just seriously pissed off at you, but I kicked you out of my apartment. After you left I was sulking on the bed and thinking about how less complicated things had been when we were twelve. You rarely paid any attention to me and I had just been happy to cheer you on and make you lunches. I fell asleep wishing that I could come back to this time, when we were twelve and just be happy and uncomplicated again. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in my old bed at Grandma's house and I was little like this again," Sakuno shared.

There! What do you have to say about  _that_  Echizen Ryoma?

"You have some pretty graphic dreams don't you?" Ryoma smirked.

Sakuno's jaw dropped. He didn't just go there. That arrogant, cocky, little…

"Is that why you gave me that sexy grin yesterday and then attacked me today?" he added.

" _Attacked you_?" Sakuno mocked. "Are you complaining about it?"

Ryoma gave Sakuno the knowing grin that she knew all to well as an adult.

"No."

"Listen, just for the record,  _you_  kissed  _me_  first, but you waited until we were sixteen!  _Sixteen_ , Ryoma," she emphasized. "I was already old enough to get married by the time  _you_  did anything."

Ryoma smirked at her, "That sounds like complaining to me."

Sakuno heaved a big sigh.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm complaining. I get it, you think I'm completely crazy, but it's the truth, you'll see. Anyways, just forget this whole conversation even happened. I'll go back to cheering you on and you can go back to ignoring me unless I'm in some kind of trouble okay? We'll revisit this in four years when we're sixteen and you're ready to do something."

She turned to walk away and Ryoma grabbed her right hand with his left, quickly interlocking their fingers.

"Mada mada dane. When we were twelve you had this weird dream about our future and then you kissed me and we've been dating ever since," Ryoma said as he gave Sakuno a challenging smirk.

"But," Sakuno began to protest.

"But – the whole you kissing me first, that's our secret. We can't let anybody know about that," Ryoma added with a genuine smile.

Being unable to help herself, Sakuno giggled. Fine, she could play things Ryoma's way. After all was said and done, she was completely powerless against him when he wanted to be charming. Twelve year old Ryoma sure was full of pleasant surprises. Just when you think you know everything about a guy…he goes and does something completely unexpected like romance you when you're twelve and make you fall in love with him all over again.

* * *

 

End Chapter Five


	6. Old Friends, New Sensations

**Way Back Into Love**

A Ryoma & Sakuno from The Prince of Tennis romance fanfic

By: Bunny

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

* * *

Chapter Six – Old Friends, New Sensations

* * *

 

Twelve year old Sakuno was nervous. This whole situation was very weird and she didn't think it was a good idea. Not at all, nope, this was definitely a bad idea. She was about to meet all of her friends,  _as adults_. Her nerves were a total wreck. She needed to go to sleep and forget this nightmare. At the very least, she needed some  _time and space_  to reorient herself and mull her life over. The ten years of her life that had just been taken away from her specifically. What she did not need right now was the pressure of pretending everything was okay, and acting like she had been  _dating Ryoma-kun_  for the last  _six_  years. Oh and he wasn't Ryoma-kun, no…just Ryoma. Ryoma. Ryoma. Ryoma. This was insane!

After Ryoma had summed up the last ten years of her life for her, he'd told her about their plans for the day. She was definitely not ready for this! He'd promptly helped her find some clothes and get dressed, rushing her through the process. Sakuno had been beyond embarrassed with him helping her find her under things. To add insult to injury, he'd noticed and teased her about it.

"It's not like I haven't seen it all already," Ryoma had said to her with a wink.

Sakuno had blushed ten shades of red and protested, "Don't."

"Don't what?" he'd asked.

"Don't tease me like that, I can't even imagine Ryoma-kun," she had tried to explain, but was overwhelmed with embarrassment.

Ryoma shook his head at her.

"Made made dane. It's Ryoma. If anybody else hears you call me Ryoma-kun, there will be more of what Tomoka-san said on the phone," Ryoma explained.

Sakuno gave a nod of understanding as she combed her hair out and began re-braiding it. To be so intimate with Ryoma-kun! It was almost unbelievable, but she'd experienced a little of it herself that morning. It was a fantasy of hers, but she was only twelve! The idea that she had not only been dating Ryoma-kun, but that they were also...it made her whole body flush with embarrassed curiosity.

"Why do we have to go to this picnic?" Sakuno asked him again.

"It's our annual gathering of all the old Seigaku gang. If we don't go, we're going to have problems explaining," Ryoma informed her again patiently.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Sakuno weakly protested yet again as she tied a ribbon on the end of one long brown braid.

Ryoma let out a frustrated sigh as he finished twisting the end of her other braid, "I know, but we don't have a choice. We have to go to this."

"Ryoma, I'm really scared," she complained.

Ryoma pulled the other ribbon from her hand and tied it on the end of the braid he'd just finished and said, "We'll leave as soon as possible. You'll probably feel better once we get there and you see everybody. Don't be scared, I'm going to be with you the whole time."

He was giving her an encouraging smile that she found too endearing to resist. She was a sucker for him alright. Didn't matter how old they were, apparently.

Sakuno let out a sigh, remembering their conversation. If only she had the same kind of power over Ryoma as he did over her. She wouldn't be here at all! Arriving at their "old" school she made her way out of the car onto wobbly, nervous legs and tried to convince herself that everything really would be okay. Ryoma came around the car and without a word grabbed her elbow; pulling her along with him in the direction she assumed the picnic was taking place. She glanced at her watch and wondered how quickly she would be able to get Ryoma to take her back to her apartment.

Ryoma gave Sakuno a side-ways glance and wondered once again if she was being serious about losing her memories since she was twelve. If she was acting, she was really good at it, and if she wasn't - well, truth is either way he was in trouble. A lot of trouble.

Sakuno needed her memories back, specifically her memories of them. If she was twelve in her mind, there was no telling what she would do. Yes, right now she was staying with him, though things weren't exactly normal, she hadn't told him to leave her alone either. That didn't mean much as he was the only person around that she had known at twelve, so she was stuck with him at the moment. They were about to meet up with their old friends though, and what would prevent her from asking Tomoka and Horio to take her in for a while? Nothing.

Besides that, would she really be comfortable dating him at her age? How long would he be able to deal with her reverting to the mentality of a twelve year old? He was used to the older, mature, sexy Sakuno, not shy, nervous, self-conscious Sakuno. She was cute, but...this was making him feel like his dirty old man and that was never a good thing. Never mind that Sakuno wasn't twelve in body...if she was twelve in her mind, that made him…bleh. The thought made him sick. More importantly, what did she think about him? Specifically, what did she think about  _them_?

On the other hand, if she was pretending to lose her memories, she was so going to get it! How dare she treat him this way? What did he ever do to deserve this kind of treatment from her?

Either way, he just wanted his girlfriend back to normal. Damn...she looked really nervous. He gave her elbow a squeeze and whispered, "Breathe."

Sakuno startled, but obediently took a deep breath as their friends came into sight.

"Sakuno-chan! Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka's loud yells came first and were soon joined with the calls of the rest of the old team, their old friends, and families.

Sakuno couldn't help but smile at the scene. Everybody was older, yes, but seeing all her friends and being on her school turf was pretty comforting after all.

"You're late!" Tomoka scolded as they finally arrived at the area and sat on the spread out blanket under the blooming cherry trees.

"Sorry Tomo-chan," Sakuno said to her long-time best girlfriend. Before settling, she gave her a quick hug. Tomoka was real. She was really there and older - yet another confirmation that this wasn't some bad dream, it was really happening.

"Are you okay, Sakuno-chan?" Tomoka asked right away, sensing Sakuno's unusual behavior.

"She's fine," Ryoma answered for her.

Sakuno looked at Ryoma, who was sitting on the other side of her, leaning around her to make eye contact with Tomoka. Then she looked back at Tomoka, who seemed to still have a worried look on her face.

Dropping her voice down to a whisper, Tomoka said, "Hey, Sakuno-chan, what was that phone call about this morning?"

Sakuno let out a nervous giggle, "Oh it was nothing."

Tomoka gave Sakuno an unconvinced look, but dropped it.

A couple hours later as they were making their way to the tennis courts to play a few friendly matches, Sakuno realized that there were two Ryomas. That morning, she had mistakenly thought that Ryoma had changed or that maybe she didn't know him very well, but after spending time with all their friends, she figured out the truth. There was the private Ryoma that talked to her, took care of her, and woke her up with kisses in the morning. Then there was the public Ryoma that everybody else knew. He was quiet and self-assured. He wasn't very openly affectionate with anybody, but he still made it very clear by his few words and actions that he was her protector.

Then it hit her. She knew a side of Ryoma that nobody else knew. She was one of the few people he opened up to, and that meant she had to be very special to him. He trusted her not to share all of his secrets, and he trusted her not to push him to be someone else in front of others. Realizing this, Sakuno suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion. Her heart was overflowing and bubbling up in her and she felt like she was going to explode with happiness. Before she knew what she was doing, she had broken away from Tomoka mid conversation and caught up to Ryoma who had been walking slightly ahead of them. She took his right hand in both of hers, gave him a winning smile, a quick peck on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you."

Ryoma stopped walking at Sakuno's sudden actions and gave her a startled look, but didn't comment.

Sakuno was okay with that though. This was public Ryoma after all, and that meant that he wouldn't be open in front of everybody and that was okay. It was just one of the many things she loved about him. That's right, she loved him. She loved Ryoma and he really did care about her. Grandma always said actions speak louder than words, and his actions said that he loved her too. Maybe being twenty-two wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

 

Later that evening, as they walked back into her apartment Ryoma asked her about the spontaneous "thank you" she had given him that afternoon.

Sakuno almost immediately became embarrassed, but quickly reminded herself that this Ryoma was a man that had been dating her for years. He was not the young tennis prodigy she knew that barely paid attention to her. She should open up to him in the way he did with her. He loved her and he deserved that from her. Even if she didn't remember the past, he was her future. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

Ryoma noticed her nervousness and commented on it, "You really don't remember anything, do you?"

Sakuno nodded her head.

"I haven't seen you acting this shy around me since we were in Jr. High," Ryoma gave her a warm comforting smile.

Sakuno looked down at the dark blue carpet of her living room and blushed. So he  _had noticed_  she was weird around him back then. Oh, she was really embarrassed now.

"Don't be embarrassed, I always thought it was cute," Ryoma shared.

Sakuno's eyes widened a bit and she looked back up at him with hope in her eyes.

"Don't look so excited, that all happened years ago," he dead-panned.

Sakuno shook her head, "You don't understand. For me, that was yesterday. I don't even know how we got from that to this," she said gesturing with her hands between the two of them.

Ryoma chuckled, "Yes, I suppose I see your point." Closing the distance between the two of them, he ran his warm hands up her arms and rested them on her shoulders. "And…are you okay with this?" he asked.

Sakuno gave a delighted shiver. Ryoma sure had a way of making a girl feel all grown up. Well, she supposed she was all grown up and this actually shouldn't be anything new to her, but it  _just was_. She blinked at him, trying to reel in her out of control senses and give him a response, but it just wasn't coming to her.

Ryoma smirked at her knowingly and leaning in a bit closer gave her a slow, lingering kiss on her bottom lip.

Unable to help it, she moaned out his name and he deepened the kiss immediately, pulling her all grown up body flush up against his. Sakuno gasped at the contact, breaking their kiss. Her whole body was tingling with excitement. Wow, that was, wow...

He was pushing her away, "I better leave."

Sakuno panicked and grabbed onto his right arm with practically her whole body, effectively stopping his retreat. Ryoma stopped and gave her a stunned look as she slowly shook her head back and forth. "Don't go, please. I can't stay here all alone in this big apartment!" she begged.

Ryoma let out a completely frustrated sigh. "You really  _are_  twelve years old aren't you?"

He extracted her from his arm and pulled her towards her bedroom.

"I already told you I was!" Sakuno exclaimed, just as frustrated. Was this what they called unresolved sexual tension?

"Well now, that sounds more like the Sakuno I know," Ryoma shared as he began pulling clothes out of the dresser drawers for them both.

What was that supposed to mean? Sakuno gave him a put-out look as she caught a skimpy red garment Ryoma tossed to her. She gave the garment a baffled look. Did she not wear anything to bed but skimpy red see-through things at twenty-two? She flipped it around a couple of times, giving it a hard look. It was different from the one in the morning, but just as scandalous. Just what kind of woman did she turn into?

"Need some help with that?" Ryoma asked as he kicked his shoes off and lifted his shirt over his head.

Sakuno got one look of bare chest and promptly turned her back to him, blushing like mad. She headed for her bathroom, determined to figure out how to put on the skimpy red see-through thing while stuttering out a, "N-no."

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

 

End Chapter Six


	7. We All Fall Down

**Way Back Into Love**

A Ryoma & Sakuno from The Prince of Tennis romance fanfic

By: Bunny

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

* * *

Chapter Seven – We All Fall Down

* * *

 

Twenty-two year old Ryuzaki Sakuno woke up to the sunshine caressing her face and letting out a big yawn, stretched her arms and legs out. Opening her eyes, she was met with a plain white ceiling and she frowned. Not again! She was just starting to adjust to being twelve and thinking maybe Ryoma was right and it was all some crazy long dream when she found herself back in her apartment. She sighed. It seems that instead of having a long crazy dream about growing up, she had a short sweet dream about going back to the past and falling in love again. Why couldn't that have been her reality?

She sat up and was quickly pulled back down by a strong, male arm.

"Calm down Ryuzaki, it's just your bedroom," she heard Ryoma mutter into his pillow.

"Why are you calling me Ryuzaki?" she asked, staring once again at her plain white ceiling in confusion.

Ryoma's half awake brain took a minute to process her question. He was expecting something like, "Oh, that's right. Good morning Ryoma-kun, did you sleep well?" Not a, "Why are you calling me Ryuzaki?" Wasn't that obvious? It was morning and she still wasn't used to being called Sakuno, so when she was still waking in the morning, he'd tried to adapt for her sake. Wait a minute. Did that mean his Sakuno was back?

Excited, Ryoma shot out of his pillow and was quickly leaning over Sakuno's form filling her view of the ceiling with his searching look.

"Sakuno, are you all better today?" he asked.

Sakuno blinked at him. Wait a minute. What was that supposed to mean? Had she been sick lately? Did all that traveling into the past stuff come from a bad fever or something? Ryoma was giving her a weird look. Not only that, but wasn't she pissed off at him? Hadn't she kicked him out of her apartment? What was he doing in her bed?

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? I live here!" Ryoma exclaimed. He gave her a startled look, as if he was just as surprised at his heated reply as she was.

Sakuno blinked at his outburst. Feeling uncertain she asked, "You do?"

Ryoma looked confused for a second, "Yeah, I do…" He held up his left hand above them both and examined the ring on his finger. He smirked down at her, "I'm your husband."

Sakuno's eyes narrowed into thin slits, "I think I would remember something as important as getting married, Ryoma. Last time marriage came up, you gave me the usual-" Sakuno stopped mid-tirade as she gave her left hand a look of disbelief. Ryoma was holding it up to show her a beautiful wedding ring set on her own ring finger.

She stared at the rings for a long time, just waiting for them to disappear. They simply  _had_  to be a figment of her imagination. How could she wake up one morning  _married_? Or rather, perhaps the question at hand was, how could she go to the past and come back two days later married? If she really went to the past that is. She could have been dreaming. Right. Dreaming. Still didn't explain the sudden appearance of wedding rings. After a few minutes of the rings definitely  _not_  disappearing, Sakuno gave up and looked at Ryoma.

Ryoma shrugged at her and said, "It must have been something you did in the past."

Now she was really thrown for a loop. How did he know about that? "Ryoma! What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you being  _weird_  the last two days," Ryoma answered.

"I was being weird the last two days?" she repeated in obvious confusion.

"Completely bananas – you told me you were twelve and you couldn't remember the last ten years," Ryoma gave her an accusing look.

Sakuno looked astonished as her mind raced. Well…maybe her twelve year old self had come here when she had gone there? Wait...that would mean that she really had gone back in time somehow and, woah. The implications were incredible. Does that mean that she screwed up the time line? She came back  _married_! Not that she was _complaining_  about being married. She looked at the rings on her left hand again. Yep, still there. Wow...oh no...what else had she messed up?

"I can't believe it. I must be going crazy. Ryoma! This is all  _your fault_!  _You told me_  it was all some  _weird dream_  and I actually started to believe you."

"Who, me? I didn't tell you that," Ryoma replied, giving her a look like maybe she  _was_  going crazy.

"Yes, you did!" she accused. "Wait. You...well you told me that, but I guess you weren't actually  _you, you_. I mean, what do I mean?" Sakuno trailed off, a look of complete confusion adorning her face. How could this be? She tried to puzzle together the pieces, but there was too much missing information.

Seeing Sakuno's genuine confusion, Ryoma gave a short laugh of relief. He pulled Sakuno up on her knees on the bed, giving her a big, warm hug. "Whatever it is, I'm  _so happy_  that you're back. Not that you weren't really cute when you were twelve, but I sure did miss  _my Sakuno_."

Sakuno took a few moments to grasp what Ryoma was telling her. So, she had come here as a twelve year old then? It sounded like she had, but then, why didn't she remember it? Ryoma though, he was happy she was there and they were married. Her situation finally starting to sink in, Sakuno smiled.

"Really? You missed me?" she asked, happy tears coming to her eyes.

Ryoma pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Of course. I love you and I want to be with you forever. Even if you go crazy sometimes and kick me out and then turn into a twelve year old for two days."

Sakuno let out a half cry, half laugh. Ryoma  _really did_ want to marry her. Maybe she had to revisit the past to figure that out, but it was all worth it if it meant she could be this happy in the end.

"If it hadn't happened to me, I wouldn't ever think it was possible to switch places with my twelve year old self. Wow, you're taking this all really well. I mean, I'm sorry if I scared you, I must have been really freaked out, " she worried.

"You're really going to stick with that story?" Ryoma asked. He didn't look surprised, but he also looked a bit skeptical.

Sakuno sighed, "I don't blame you if you think I'm crazy. All I can tell you is that in  _my_  memories, I spent the last two days as a twelve year old. I actually thought you had come with me and took advantage of your twelve year old self."

Ryoma scoffed, "I must have liked that."

"You did, actually," Sakuno teased.

"Maybe that's how we ended up married today," Ryoma said, looking like he was putting a puzzle together in his head. "It sounds to me like we got started four years early."

Sakuno shook her head sadly, "I'm  _so_  disappointed, I missed my own wedding. I tried to warn you in the past that we could mess up the time line, but you just said 'mada mada dane.'"

Ryoma smirked at Sakuno's story. Well, that confirmed it. She really did have some kind of weird experience. All this time, he'd thought maybe she was just playing around because she was fed up with him. He wasn't sure if he should be happy about it or sad. He did need to apologize.

"Sakuno, I'm sorry."

"What's that?" Sakuno asked, startled.

"I got scared," Ryoma confessed as he looked down, suddenly embarrassed for his actions.

"What are you talking about? When have you ever been scared?" Sakuno asked, truly puzzled at this strange turn of the conversation.

"You were really mad at me the other night and then you didn't remember…" he stopped for a second and looked away blushing.

Wow. Ryoma was  _blushing_. Sakuno didn't think she'd seen him blush at all in the last five years or so. Well, if you didn't count that his twelve year old self was blushing the other day.

He coughed and took a breath, "Sakuno, we got married  _yesterday_."

Shocked, Sakuno said nothing. She just sat there on her knees blinking at Ryoma, waiting for him to tell her he was joking. He couldn't be serious! There is  _no way_  that she would have married him at twelve, was there? Her eyes widened in realization. Oh, who was she kidding? If Ryoma put his mind too it he could charm her into doing anything –  _especially_ when she was twelve. She had practically worshiped the ground he'd walked on back then. Taking that into account and adding on grown-up Ryoma's knowledge of her she must have been completely at his mercy. Not that things were much different now, she just knew him better. She gave him a glare of understanding.

Nervous, Ryoma plunged forward, "I couldn't stand the idea of you leaving me so I asked you to marry me, even though you insisted that you were twelve and you didn't remember anything. I was worried because you've  _never really_ been mad at me. I really thought you were just punishing me for taking so long. And if you really couldn't remember anything either then I needed to make sure you would stay with me…" he paused in his explanation and got a guilty look on his face.

The situation finally fully sinking into her brain Sakuno yelled in disbelief, "You  _married my twelve year old self yesterday_?"

Ryoma shrugged, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

Sakuno gave Ryoma a scandalized look. "You better not ha-" she began, but the phone rang, interrupting her.

"Hello?" Sakuno asked. Why did she answer the phone? She was so upset she couldn't even think straight.

"Sakuno-chan? Are you feeling better today?" Tomoka asked on the other end of the phone.

"Tomo-chan? What are you talking about?" Sakuno asked. Her eyes widened and she glanced at Ryoma. He was looking at her, but pretending to be uninterested in her conversation.

"Well, you know...you and Ryoma-sama have always been the happiest married couple I know, but at the picnic you were both acting kind of weird and I just- I'm sorry if I'm being nosy, but I couldn't stop worrying about you. Are you guys okay?" Tomoka asked.

Sakuno put her free hand on her forehead, feeling a headache coming. Happiest  _married couple_  she knew? That didn't sound like she got married yesterday. Oh boy.

"Tomo-chan, don't think I'm crazy or anything, but when did Ryoma and I get married?" Sakuno asked.

That got Ryoma's obvious attention. He was suddenly looking at the phone and Sakuno strangely, his eyes darting back and forth between Sakuno's eyes and the phone by her ear.

There was a long pause. Finally, Tomoka let out a long-suffering sigh and then yelled, "Sakuno! What's wrong with you lately? Mou! This is  _the second time this week_  you've asked me a weird question. Two days ago you asked why Ryoma-kun would be kissing you and how old you were and NOW you're asking me when you got married? You and Ryoma-sama have been married since we graduated from high school! Now tell me what's going on or so help me, Horio and I are coming over there and demanding answers!"

Sakuno held the phone away from her ear during Tomoka's tirade as she and Ryoma gave each other shocked looks.  _Married for four years_? Why…didn't either of them remember…did her trip to the past actually change their future? Why were they the only ones that didn't have these new memories? Was it because they were the ones that changed their past?

Ryoma gently took the phone from Sakuno's limp hand and found himself once again telling Tomoka that Sakuno would call her back.

Once the call was disconnected, Ryoma looked at Sakuno and stated the obvious question on both of their minds, "Why don't either of us remember this?"

Sakuno shook her head in puzzlement for what seemed like an hour, but was probably only a few seconds before she burst out into crazy, hysterical laughter. A minute later, Ryoma joined in and after a good long laugh, the two found themselves laying side-by-side staring at Sakuno's plain white ceiling, holding hands.

"What are we going to tell our kids?" Sakuno finally asked.

Ryoma shook his head, "We better come up with something."

* * *

 

Twelve year old Ryuzaki Sakuno was startled to wake up to her alarm going off above the head of her bed. Wasn't she? Groggy and confused, she sat up and turned off the alarm. She sat there in her bed for a good ten minutes, staring at her back to normal body and wondering if the last two days of being in the future with Ryoma and getting married had really just been a dream. It sure was a nice dream. She could still remember his touch and his kisses and how big and strong grown up Ryoma was. Did that? Did all that really happen or was she just imagining it all in her head?

Not knowing what else to do, Sakuno got up and got ready for school, just as she usually did and wondered idly what day it was. Had two days really passed or not?

Two days had indeed past, Sakuno learnt as she got to the school grounds. Now she was confronted with an even worse dilemma. She couldn't even  _look_  at Ryoma without wanting to throw her arms around him and confess her undying love. She kept remembering what it felt like to be kissed by him and held by him. Even though he was smaller and less mature than the man that had just charmed her to marry him despite her better judgment, she wanted to be with him. She wanted to be with him  _bad_. It was making her crazy. What should she do? Should she risk approaching him about their future too early? Future Ryoma had told her he'd liked her when they were twelve, but  _when exactly_  when they were twelve? Ryoma had also said they didn't start dating until they were sixteen. That was a big problem. No, no, she couldn't do anything, she had to wait for things to run their course. She would just have to suffer.

Every time she saw him, she quickly ran in the other direction, avoiding him at all costs. What else could she do? She couldn't act on her feelings. If it was too soon and Ryoma freaked out she would just  _die_. He'd been  _hers_  and now he'd been taken away from her! Life was not fair!

The twelve year old Ryoma had no idea what she knew.  _No idea_. She comforted herself as she ran from him that day that at least at twelve Ryoma had paid no attention to her. He wouldn't notice anything amiss with  _Ryuzaki_ while she got herself back to the shy girl that didn't really know him. How long would that take though? Why did she have to see her beautiful future only to be throw back to being twelve again? She didn't even feel like she was twelve anymore!

It was just after the final class as she was leaving the school grounds that Sakuno was grabbed forcefully and placed with her back up against the dividing wall of the school, just a ways from the front gate. She was confronted with a highly irritated twelve year old version of her husband. Yes, she said it! Her husband! Whether he remembered it or not, she had married him yesterday! Wow, she wasn't even nervous around him anymore. It's really amazing what a trip to the future can do for your confidence. Real or imagined, that is...wait...what was he _doing_  here? He was supposed to be busy preparing for tennis practice, not kidnapping her on her way home. Why did he have his arms on either side of her to block her into the wall? Why was he looming over her so closely?

Before she could ask, he hissed at her, "Sakuno, why are you avoiding me?"

Sakuno blinked. That was...unexpected and weird. Did he just call her Sakuno? As in…not Ryuzaki? As in…I have a close enough relationship with you to address you by nothing but your first name, Sakuno? And did he really notice she was avoiding him? Was this really Ryoma that had chased her down and pinned her to the wall? Was this really Ryoma who looked so upset with her?

"Ano…Ryoma- _kun_ , what are you talking about?" Sakuno asked, trying to figure out what was really at hand here. Surely, Ryoma wasn't  _really_  on to her, was he? She tried to glance over his shoulder, looking for a safe escape route.

"Ryoma- _kun_?" he echoed. "Don't tell me we're back to that. What about your  _graphic dreams_?"

Sakuno's attention was quickly diverted back to Ryoma's face and seeing his teasing smirk, she thought she would die of embarrassment. Did Ryoma actually just ask her about  _graphic dreams_? She felt her entire face flush red and tried to figure out what she was supposed to say now. She'd been had. Oh no. Oh nononononononono. She was _definitely not_  going to have another conversation  _like this_ with Ryoma. Mutinous, Sakuno remained quiet.

Ryoma smirked at her, "You're blushing."

Sakuno wanted to escape, but Ryoma had her effectively pinned to the wall. Surely, this wasn't the same Ryoma she had married in the future was it? Had he had the same dream? Or were they really time traveling together? _What was going on_? Confused, Sakuno shook her head forcefully and gave Ryoma a nervous look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" she exclaimed in desperation. She needed to get away, NOW.

"Oh  _hell no_ , you aren't taking it back!" Ryoma yelled back to her.

Eeeek! He was furious with her! Sakuno made to duck under his arm, not caring if she had a secure escape route or not, simply wishing to run away from this completely mortifying situation as quickly as possible. Sure she'd seen Ryoma angry before when he was saving her from some bully or another, but he'd never directed it at her. She didn't really know how to handle angry Ryoma. What was he so upset about? What was he talking about?  _Why was he even paying any attention to her_? She was free for half a second before Ryoma had grabbed her from behind around the waist with both arms. She struggled in his arms, flailing her arms and legs out, trying to escape.

"Let me go!"

"No. Answer my questions!" Ryoma replied as he grunted with the effort of trying to keep her still.

A few struggling seconds later, they crashed onto the soft grass, a tangle of limbs. Scrambling in vain to get away, Sakuno tried desperately to crawl off, but Ryoma climbed over her and held her down with his entire body.

They lied there on the ground facing each other while panting from their tussle. Ryoma was positioned slightly above her, having a slight advantage, though neither of them could move much. He'd pinned her arms up above her head, and the lower half of her body with his, effectively ceasing her ability to wiggle free. Catching his breath, he gave a growl of irritation, " _What_  is your problem?"

"You!" she burst out before she had a chance to really think about it. " _You_  are my problem,  _what are you doing_?"

"What am  _I_  doing?" Ryoma repeated his tone incredulous. "What are  _you_  doing?  _You're_  the one that's been running in the opposite direction every time you laid your eyes on me today! I think I have every right to know what's going on. I'm your boyfriend, aren't I?"

Sakuno's heart stopped for a split second at his declaration before its speed increased tenfold. Was he serious? Before she had her weird trip to the future, Ryoma had been treating her as he always did. What could have possibly happened the last two days to…oh. Oh. Ohohohohohohohohohohoh. A light bulb went off in Sakuno's addled brain. If  _she_  was in the future, then maybe her future self was  _here_  in the past with…wow…the implications of that sent her mind spinning. If Ryoma had any kind of interaction like she did with his future self with her future self, well…Sakuno flushed. She was the type that wore skimpy see-through red things to bed in the future, so there's no telling what her future self may have said or done to Ryoma.

Not quite sure how to give an answer, Sakuno hesitantly asked, "You are?"

Ryoma's face seemed to relax slightly at her cautious question. She wasn't struggling, well, he did have her pinned down, but the fight seemed to have left her and she didn't look horrified when he'd said he was her boyfriend. Those were all good signs, right?

"I am, aren't I?" he asked again suddenly needing reassurance from Sakuno. This whole "dating" thing was all so new to him anyways; he didn't even know if this was the way things were supposed to be. Did girls usually do weird stuff like this to their boyfriends? Was this some weird kind of game? He doubted it. He'd never heard stories about other guys having to chase their girlfriends down and pin them on the grass because they were avoiding talking to them. She was being  _rude_. You don't kiss a guy the way she did yesterday and then run in the opposite direction every time you see him the next day. Well, unless the guy rejected you, but he hadn't done that. He was more into her than ever before. Sakuno was so weird. If she started saying she didn't know what he was talking about again, he was going to "jog  _her_  memory."

Sakuno gave Ryoma a nervous smile and decided to go with the truth, "Honestly Ryoma,  _I don't know_  because the last two days - I was busy  _marrying you_  in the  _future_."

Ryoma's eyebrow twitched for a second in obvious irritation, "You were _where?_  Doing  _what_?"

Sakuno looked like she was going to bolt again for a second, but instead she explained, " _I_  was in the future. Didn't the twenty-two year old me tell you what happened?"

If he thought they were dating after two days then he  _must have_  had some kind of serious conversation with her future self, right? Did she speak too soon? He wasn't giving her that "you're crazy" look his future self had, so this maybe it wasn't a new concept to him after all…

Ryoma let go of her arms and sat up, leaving his lower half still pinning the rest of her body to the ground. She had no choice but to lay there and stare up at him.

"Are you serious? You don't even remember  _yesterday_?"

"I remember it all right, but I wasn't  _here_  with  _you_ ," she answered.

He gave her an irritated glare, "I thought you were making all that stuff up about being twenty-two years old because you took advantage of me."

Sakuno blushed at the idea of Ryoma thinking she had taken advantage of him. Oh God, she knew it.

"I-I wasn't, I mean that wasn't  _me_ , well, at least not  _me, me_. Ano...this is all so confusing," she muttered.

"Yeah," Ryoma looked pretty bummed out all of the sudden.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, mulling over this new insight into their situation.

"What did twenty-two year old me tell you?" she finally asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Ryoma looked decidedly put out, " _You_  told me that we'd had this big fight about  _getting married_."

"You told me that too!" Sakuno said, finally finding common ground with Ryoma in this completely messed up embarrassing situation.

"I did?" Ryoma asked.

"Yeah, you did. You didn't know that I was me yet though and you didn't believe me when I said I was twelve. Understandably, I guess. When I asked for a doctor you asked me if I was  _pregnant_ ," Sakuno blurted out. Oh no...she didn't just tell twelve year old Ryoma...she covered her face with her hands. This was it, she was definitely going to die of embarrassment. Why did she say  _that_?

Ryoma pulled her hands away from her face and gave her a sexy smirk, "Yeah, I'd believe that after the way you attacked me yesterday."

Sakuno groaned in further embarrassment, "Don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Don't tease me..." she trailed off, realizing she'd had a very similar conversation with older Ryoma just two days prior. "Wow, you haven't changed one bit!"

"The other you said that too. She said, she'd made a wish to be twelve again because life was less complicated and she'd woken up the next morning as twelve again. I guess she went back to the future and now you're back, I mean…you are  _my Sakuno_ , aren't you?"

Sakuno blushed. Did he just call her  _his Sakuno_? Was he? Did he really mean that? Sakuno started melting into a puddle of goo.

"Yes…" she answered dreamily.

"Good. As entertaining as the last couple of days have been, I'm really happy you're back, I didn't really know how to handle her," he confessed.

Sakuno nodded in complete understanding.

"I know how you feel, I mean, I was the one that got talked into  _getting married_!" Sakuno ranted.

"Are you complaining?" Ryoma asked.

Sakuno blushed, "Well, maybe a little bit. You don't know how scary it was for me to wake up in a bigger body with a bigger you in bed with me, okay?"

Ryoma gave Sakuno a shocked look, "That's what happened to you?"

"Yes!"

He smirked at her as he got up and put his hand out to pull her up off the grass as well, "Mada mada dane."

"No. You. You probably didn't even get past kissing me," Sakuno taunted.

Ryoma's jaw opened in shock. Was she  _challenging_  him?

He grabbed for her as she spun away from him and took off in a sprint through the trees on the border of the school. It only took a few old tree roots to trip her up and as she fell, Ryoma pounced on her.

"Oi. We really need to work on this running away from your boyfriend bit," he said as he leaned down and kissed her possessively. She kissed him back, but didn't start taking his shirt off like the older Sakuno had either. Maybe she didn't...wait what was he thinking? She better not have...

He broke away for a minute and gave her a firm look, "You didn't...?"

Sakuno smiled and shook her head, "Ryoma, I'm only twelve!"

Ryoma looked skeptical, "But you got married."

Sakuno smiled, "Well, yeah, but that was because  _you made me_  and you can talk me into anything."

"I'm going to remember that," Ryoma smirked as he bent down and kissed her again.

"Just promise me we'll never fight about getting married," Sakuno said as Ryoma released her for a second between kisses.

"Definitely not going to take four years, I know the rules," Ryoma agreed.

* * *

 

End


End file.
